that is it for us five. thank you for watching. see you tomorrow. if you dare. >> bret: breaking news on the libya scandal. we now know the white house had information on the benghazi attack, that it was terrorism. almost real-time. and now more questions surfaced. as new evidence is revealed. this is "special report." ♪ ♪ >> bret: good evening. i'm bret baier with 13 days to go before america votes e-mails obtained by fox news show america's top leaders were aware that terrorists were taking credit for attacking the u.s. mission in libya. the very day it happened. while the white house is now saying there was still confusion, there are new questions about what could have been done in those early hours. as the attack was stillgoing.

fox team coverage tonight. national security correspondent jennifer griffin looks at the trail of information and the response or lack of it. but we begin with chief white house correspondent ed henry on those e-mails. the explanations. and the election. good evening, ed. >> good evening, bret. the white house wanted to focus to be on the president marathon get out the vote, push. but the new e-mails are raising new questions what about knew what when over benghazi. >> we are going to pull an all-nighter. >> six battlegrounds in 48 hours. a schedule so jam packed a sure sign yet president obama's campaign knows they lost momentum and are trying to seize it back. with the final pitch, that includes the claim al-qaeda is on the run. >> al-qaeda is on the path to defeat and bin laden is dead. i kept that promise. >> reporter: yet, new e-mails about the terror attack in benghazi first obtained by fox news reveal on the day of the assault, top white house officials knew that al-qaeda tied group ansar

al-sharia had claimed responsibility. with one e-mail sounding the alarm about the al-qaeda tied group by saying, "embassy tripoli reports group claiming responsibility on facebook and twitter an called for an attack on embassy tripoli." after hours after the e-mails came in the president suggested to cbs news it was not just random violence. in a clip the network did not immediately air. >> you are right, this is not a situation that was exactly the same as what happened in egypt. my suggestion suspicion is there are folk -- my suspicion is folks were involved in this looking to target americans from the start. >> raising questions why u.s. ambassador to the u.n. susan rice claimed it was spontaneous reaction to protests over about islam film. as well as this claim by white house spokesman jay carney on september 18. our initial information, that includes all information, we saw no evidence to back up claims by others that this was

a preplanned, or premeditated attack, that we saw evidence it was sparked by the reaction to the video. >> today, carney downplayed the e-mails noting they include nonclassified information called from social -- culled from social media flights telling reporters aboard air force one -- >> i and others made very clear that our preliminary statements were preliminary and an investigation was underway and as more facts became available we would make the american people aware of them. >> today, secretary of state hillary clinton backed up the white house account. >> posting something on facebook is not in and of itself evidence. i think it is under scores how fluid the reporting was at the time and continued for some time to be. >> carney added later the al-qaeda affiliated group claimed not to be involved in the attack. the only suspect now in custody in the terror attack

is a member of the group described as the suspected participant and not commander of the assault. >> we don't know much about him, because we have not been able to have access to him. that is one of the problems with the policy of this administration. >> all of this playing out in what the president is calling 48-hour marathon making trust central issue of the final days. >> there is no more serious issue on a presidential campaign than trust. trust matters. >> now today, three senator fired off a letter to the president saying they were disturbed that the white house knew it might be terror in two hours of the attack. they are demanding the president come forward and directly address the american people about benghazi with a speech or news conference. bret? >> bret: ed, to be clear, the white house press secretary jay carney said in a few hours the organization itself mari ansar al-sharia clad it had not been responsible. but again, alihani al horazi

is being held by tunisian authorities hasn't is tied to ansar al-sharia. >> right. and senator chamblss saying this is the only person in custody and he is tied to that al-qaeda affiliated group. so the bottom line is while there were conflicting reports about whether or notbe the group was claiming responsibility for a terror attack, someone connected to that group is now in custody. related to the terror attack. >> bret: only one. ed, thank you. the attack on the consulate in libya triggered a wide array of moves by the pentagon. help never arrived an four americans as you heard clouding the u.s. ambassador were killed. national security correspondent jennifer griffin looks at that part of the story. >> reporter: shortly after the attack began, unarmed u.s. predator drone positioned over benghazi. six hours and 20 minutes after the attack started, former seals tyrone woods and glen doherty were killed at the c.i.a. annex a mile from the

consulate by a mortar shell at 4:00 a.m. local time. the president met his defense secretary and vice president in the oval office within an hour of the attacks on set. the pentagon began moving military assets. eight special operators sent from tripoli, a fast team of marines from spain were sent to guard the embassy but remained in the capital. special operations force was moved from central europe to the air base in southern italy. 480-miles from benghazi. a-16 and apache helicopters were unused at an air base in northern italy. two navy destroyers in the mediterranean moved off the coast of libya on the day of the attack and were never used. some former defense officials say it was too little, too late. >> from the united states military to say they were 480 miles away and they could don't anything and they couldn't move one aircraft in eight hours, i say it's time to relieve a lot of people in chain of command.

but i don't believe that. >> u.s. officials argue the street of benghazi without a clear intelligence picture on the ground could have led to friendly fire. they also feared an ambush. >> it's not easy as people think. not the way it's december played in hollywood where it's matter of fact and picked up and done. there are concerns about those they send there and having harm come to them as they're about those already there under duress. >> the fight was over in an hour according to recently leaked state department e-mails obtained by fox news. >> officials in washington reading the cables may have thought the attack was over. now they know it was a two-pronged assault on two separate locations that lasted more than six hours. >> bret: jennifer griffin live at the pentagon. thank you. >> cease-fire during an upcoming muslim holiday is still a possibility in syria. the u.n. arab league envoy says the government and rebel

leaders signed off. the regime says it's still studying the proposal. the main opposition figure says he has little hope. rebels posted videos showing the variety of weapons they are using against the troops ranging from catapults shooting homemade bombs to rocket launchers. senior iranian officials say they may step up uranium enrichment if the west does not ease up on sanctions. this suggests the penalties could force iran in to ultimatum style tactics. boosting enrichment levels would put iran closer to the redline israel set for military action. now back to american politics. president obama will have travelled more than 5,000 miles before his campaigning day is done. while governor romney is making stops in the battleground states of nevada and iowa. senior national correspondent john roberts tells us what the candidates are telling their supporters about the final stretch. >> the final debate behind him, romney dropped my reference to foreign policy, going heavy on domestic

issues. hammering the president for lacking a clear agenda for a second term. >> the president has been unable to find an agenda and to communicate an agenda and defend an agenda. that's a reason why we know he is out of ideas. and out of excuses. in november you will put him out of office. >> as he did in the primaries, romney trying to create air of inevitably, claiming he has momentum and president is fading. >> obama campaign is slipping and shrinking. our campaign is a growing movement across this country! the latest real clear politics average of polls has romney up less than a point nationally. toe's gapup will tracking shows a slight decline for romney but still at 50%. polls in all the battleground states are within the margin of error. >> for his part, the president on a day long blitz that won't end until after midnight in las vegas. in between campaign stop hitting another late night comedy show. >> we have come up with a name for the condition, romneysia.

>> he's perfecting the presidential put-down ridiculing romney about the shift to the middle, derideed romney policy proposals as smoke and mirrors or out of date. >> we joke about romneysia but it speaks to something that is important. the issue of trust. >> but the president is taking fire of his own. for an off-the-record interview with the "des moines register" two weeks before election day. under pressure, the campaign allowed the publication, revealing that the president has no regrets for elbowing aside the economy to doggedly pursue healthcare in his first year. >> by the way, there is early voting now. >> on the trail, both candidates are urging people to lock in their votes now. in ohio, 30% of voters have already cast ballots. the obama campaign claiming a 10-point advantage in ohio. republicans say obama is underperforming. both claims are based on polls with tiny samples. no one has yet seen the votes. >> in the last few years america has been knocked down. >> candidates hit the trail for the final push, look who

is back in the sadle in clint eastwood famously talked to an empty chair at the republican convention is featured in the new american crossroad ad with the same tone as the halftime in america super bowl appearance. >> not much time left for the future of our country. >> romney will double downen the on the push of the bread and butter issues planning a foreign speech on the economy, deficit and the federal spending in ames, iowa on friday. bret? >> john roberts live in reno tonight. thanks. coming up on "special report," has mitt romney officially shifted away from the right heading to the center? that brings us tonight's text to vote question. if romney wins how will he govern in text sr1 to 36288 for from the right. sr2 for from the center. sr3, for from the left. results later. next up, state that could decide the election. [ female announcer ] beef, meet flavor boost.

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>> bret: in case you haven't heard it yet, ohio could be key to the presidential race. fox news has a team on the ground in the state of ohio for the duration of the campaign. covering every important angle. tonight, low-tech, electioneering. both sides hitting the streets and knocking on doors. correspondent mike tobin goes inside ohio from columbus. >> polls split in the single digits at the widest, the ground game has never been as important, i gress i and detail -- aggressive and detailed as in the key battleground state of ohio. >> will you support romney and ryan this fall? >> jeff johnson is part of a team that knocked on nearly 300,000 doors just this week. with the possibility that efforts like his could decide the presidency. >> there is a lot of weight on

your shoulders. >> a lot of weight. >> the details information that volunteers take door to door is evidence big brother has been watching you in past elections. democrats and republicans know your name and what is important to you specifically before they knock on your door. >> we know who you are, where you live and how you voted. more importantly to us, we have an expectation on how you will vote in this election. based on that expectation, we will spend a great deal of time and energy turning out voters that we anticipate will support the president. >> it's creepy. they are doing scientific targeting. number one, it's good to give the demographic and understand where people are coming from, but at the same time, something called privacy. >> likely obama voters get visits from democrats. romney supports, visit from republicans. it's less about persuasion and more making sure no one from the dedicated support base fails to cast a ballot. personal contact come over the phone. >> do you know if charles will support romney for president?

>> through the mail and in person. >> no hiding under a rock. you have to be in a different universe if you haven't received voter contact, phone call or door knock. >> voters like lisa rogers is annoyed and she has stopped answering the phone. >> i'm just ready to vote. >> through the personal attention, there is no doubt in mind of anyone in buckeye state that his or her vote counts. >> ohio is very, very important. >> we're all intensely aware here. >> now for all of you voters in the battleground states there is a way to make the phone calls and the door knocking stop. vote early. the campaigns are tracking with such details that within a couple dives the volunteers know you cast your ballot, you are a done deal and you go blissfully back to the status of unimportant. bret? >> bret: that is key. mike tobin in columbus. thank you. what if no state decides the election? really? what if there is a tie in the electoral college? what happens then in chief

congressional correspondent mike emanuel has the answers. >> in a close presidential race, one possible scenario is electoral tie. the battle over the 11 in yellow could go either way and that could be up to florida and western battleground go romney. remaining northern battleground go for the president. so i ask a couple of the electoral map expert about the possibility of 269-269 finish in which case the house would choose the next president. >> the senate decides who the vice president is. it would probably be in democratic hands still and would pick joe biden. so you would have a romney-biden ticket, president and vice president of the united states. it would be one crazy finish to one crazy election year. highly unlikely, but never say never.

it doubt we get there. the odds are approaching 1% or less. this has been a crazy election. >> it would make for electoral drama if neither candidate earns 270 electoral votes. >> bret: mike, thank you. this is a fox news alert. more breaking news on the libya scandal now. fox news obtained another e-mail from the state department indicating the portion of the u.s. consulate in benghazi, it's actually the annex where americans, some of the americans fled in the terror attack. wisconsin under fire six hours after the initial alert. jennifer griffin talked about this in her piece. no help ever came to the annex a mile away. the subject line for the e-mail reads "benghazi shelter location also under acak." the body reads command reports the current shelter location for chief of mission personnel in benghazi is under attack by mortar fire.

there are reports of injuries to chief of mission, c.o.m. staff. that means the document is unclassified. this roughers to the diplomat -- this refers to the diplomatic security. this is to the group of people that received the e-mails earlier, military security, and diplomatic portfolio. the primary figure goes to the white house situation room. this e-mail is very interesting. while the earlier ones indicated ambassador chrissteins and others retreated to the safehane location inside the consulate, this e-mail was sent six hours after the earlier message about 11:57:00 p.m. eastern time. showing that mortar fire is hitting the safe location, the shelter, the annex about a mile away. it suggests that stevens and others are there. we know thatsteins is not there but others had gone there to the annex. it's hit by mortar fire. as catherine herridge reported yesterday, mortars indicate terrorists, because it is

sophisticated. another very important development here. keep it here on "special report." more on this developing story when we return.

>> bret: one of the charges you'll hear a lot in the final days of the campaign is romney moved to the center to attract undecided and independent voters. chief national correspondent jim angle looks at whether that's true. >> one of the most remarkable things for many in the last debate is how much romney seemed to agree with the president. >> i believe the president indicated and said at the time i supported his action there. i don't blame the administration, that was something i concurred with. >> governor romney, i'm glad that you agree.

>> similar records argued some, democrats to argue romney moved to the middle as the election neared. >> what happened to win a republican primary you have to go way off to the right to thread the needle on the right side. if he went way off to the right, what he has done in the last debates is move toward the center. >> he wants to connect with those voters that are still making up their mind or soft obama supporters, that when they look at governor romney they see a commander-in-chief. >> both candidates found time to repeatedly mention women's equality. the reason is clear. the women's vote is critical and romney is getting far more support from women than senator mccain did four years ago. now only four to five points less than the president in some key swing states such as ohio, colorado and florida. >> pretty clear to me that was a strategy and from this stand point, probably pretty good standpoint. the polls seem to suggest that it's been helpful to them. >> democrats leapt at a controversy about abortion

where romney says only in case of rape, incest and life of the mother. republican candidate in indiana took a different view. >> this fall, i'm supporting richard murdoch for senate. >> even when life begins in the instance of rape it's something that god intended to happen. >> murdoch tried to clarify that. where others insisted romney take the ad down. romney campaign said the for disagreed on abortion but refused to pull the ad. for their part, republicans are now emphasizing positions the president once championed that have now shifted. on job creation, cutting the deficit in half and capping carbon emissions which mr. obama once said would force the energy prices to skyrocket among others. >> they did move to the center in 2008, to be elected. the problem is that he has a record now.

the talk of 2008 never materialized in 2012. >> there is always a little wiggle room if candidates' positions, and i'd be the first to suggest in every race, house,nate or presidency, every candidate moved a bit for their own advantage here and there. >> while both do everything they can to appeal to voters in the middle, people on other sides argue the other one doesn't mean it. >> bret: thanks. tell us what you think about how a president romney possibly wouldgone. text sr1 to 36288 for from the right. text sr sr2 for from the center. text sr3 from the left. results shortly. grapevine is next. ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you engineer a true automotive breakthrough? ♪ you give it bold new styling,

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>> bret: fresh pickingings from the political grapevine. campaigning in ohio, vice president biden joke head brought his daughter along to make sure he didn't make any mistakes. on the next stop in the state of ohio, she missed this one. >> this is a guy running tall ads here in iowa saying he is going to get tough on china. i have had a great privilege of being in state now, my 25th event i'm not sure but i have been all over the state. >> it's the state of ohio. not the first time that biden forgot where he was. in august you may remember the vice president told a virginia crowd that together they could

win north carolina. donald trump hyped a major announcement today. here is how that went. >> if obama opens up and gives the college records and applications and if he gives his passport applications and records, i will give to a charity of his choice, immediately, for $5 million. >> bret: white house advisor david plouffe declined to comment directly saying reaction should come from the romney campaign, because, "donald trump is mitt romney's biggest supporter so he owns everything trump says." the internet seemed underwhelmed. the daily caller noted something a bit odd in their in-box today. "newsweek" is still selling one-year subscriptions for the low rate of just $37. not even the fine print tells the whole story.

"i figured it might disclose the detail that 'newsweek' will cease printing the magazine in little over two months. but no, it says the offer valid in usa only and subject to change." the daily caller speculates it might be a case of consumer fraud, especially since the soon to be defunked magazine delivers through the u.s. mail. like floodwaters surging over a dam, the rising tide of debt in europe is threatening to inundate the continent's economy and spill over right here at home. senior foreign affairs correspondent greg palkot reports from london on how bad things are getting. >> the car industry in europe are taking hits about american business could be feeling it. >> ford announced toe it's closing one of the most important plans in europe to 4300 jobs that we lost. the folks are not happy.

>> the debt crisis and economic slowdown in europe is hitting the dearborn car maker. for a quarter of the global sales. expect to lose $1 billion here this year. >> france's biggest car maker lay off workers as well. today, announced $9 billion in french government support. is there a u.s. connection here, too. general motors has a stake. the woes might slow the american car companies recovery. >> that is a problem is if the huge billion, weight on their shoulders. that is keeping them down. >> this is as the debt crisis got worse. it's reported overall debt is higher than it's been since the euro was launched in 1999. >> in greece, it's over 150%. recession throughout europe is working against posterity efforts. >> that is where they are walking a thin line now in europe, between really trying to fix the problem and then sending off a new problem. >> business confidence is even faltering in the economic

powerhouse of germany. the european stock markets were up slightly today on upbeat economic news from china. looking for good news in economically interconnected world where they can find it. bret? >> bret: greg palkot in london. greg, thank you. stocks here in the u.s. were down on wall street. the meningitis death count is up 24 now. a third person died in indiana. the cdc reports 312 cases in 17 states. the new benghazi e-mails. what they mean and how they could effect the presidential race. the fox all-stars join me when we come back. ford c-max hybrid. when you're carrying a lot of weight, c-max has a nice little trait, you see, c-max helps you load your freight,

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>> bret: look life at the white house. focus on the white house and what white house knew on the first day of the attacks on 9/11 in benghazi, libya. now, there are new e-mails that surfaced. fox news obtained e-mails on that day from mention mention. going up the chain -- from benghazi, going up the chain. the first word sent to 400 different people including to the white house situation room. there you see the u.s. diplomatic mission in benghazi under attack 20. armed men firing shots, explosions heard. ambassador stephens in benghazi, four chief of mission personnel. 15 minute later the firing stopped. they are locating the chief of mission embassy personnel. an hour plus later, update

two, ansar al-sharia, al-qaeda linked group, claims responsibility for benghazi attack. svu on facebook and twitter. called for an attack on embassy tripoli. late they're night, 11:57 p.m., suggest updates free benghazi shelter location also under attack. this is the annex a mile away. current shelter location for com, chief of mission, embassy personnel in benghazi under attack by mortar fire. our reports of inj you are troy chief of mission -- injuries to chief of mission staff. this is what hillary clinton said of this today. >> posting something on facebook is not in and of itself evidence. i think it underscores how fluid the reporting was at the time. the independent accountability review board is already hard at work looking at everything. not cherry picking one story here or one document there.

>> looking it everything. >> bret: jay carney said in a few hours the organization ansar al-sharia claimed it had not been responsible for the attack. the problem with that, one man in custody in tunisia, is a member of ansar al-sharia. let's bring in panel. steve hayes for "weekly standard." mara liasson of national public radio. syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. steve? importance of the e-mails and significance? >> they are significant. contrary to what secretary clin says, they are evidence. the intelligence community considers all of this when it makes evaluation as to what actually happened. this would have been what they first considered, they're called the open source intelligence. they are not classified and they didn't come through a secret operations. but they are, in fact, evidence. they may end up not being determinative. they might not tell you the whole story. but it was the case we knew

early there were claims by a terrorist group to have been involved. add to that the fact that the cia station chief in libya sent a cable in 24 hours back to washington saying that he thought it was terrorist attack. add to that, you know, the fact we had an intercept between al-qaeda an another al-qaeda linked, closely apillateed with al-qaeda central in pakistan and local jihadist. you had plenty of evidence in first 24 hours that this was a terrorist attack, conducted by groups linked to al-qaeda. i suspect that is why president obama early before they seem to have gotten their story straight, they were going to blame this on the video went "60 minutes." in the interview said this was not like egypt. a different attack. >> bret: very interesting. this tape never aired on "60 minutes." first time it aired was 19th, friday before the foreign policy debate. i just saw it online today.

take a listen. interview with steve cross that happened september 12 after the attack. >> described as a mob action. but there are reports that they were very heavily armed. >> this is not a situation that was exactly the same as what happened in egypt. and my suspicion is there are folks involved in this who were looking to target americans from the start. >> bret: okay. do we have the montage ready to go of the other montage? while we wait for that, that tape is interesting. >> before susan rice he had no way to know if they would air it or not. >> bret: right. take a listen to this. this is few days later. eight days later. then the 20th, 24th, 25th. >> what we do know is that the natural protests, that arose

because the outrage over the video were used as an excuse by extremists to see if they can also directly harm the u.s. interests or -- well, we don't know yet. >> i heard hillary clinton say it was an act of terrorism. is it? what do you say? >> we're still doing an investigation. there is no speech that justifies mindless violence. >> it sounds completely different than september 12. >> the administration story shifted and the tone of them. oaf time they put more emphasis on the video. it seems like the president's first suspicion based on what they were hearing from the scene was that extremists were involved. even when susan rice was on "face the nation" and asked about al-qaeda, she said well, we'll have to find that out. there were extremist elements that joined in, whether they were al-qaeda or libyan based extremists or al-qaeda itself is one thing we have to determine. there always was a possibility

but the emphasis was on spontaneity, the videotape. my impress is that if this was a coverup, which is what people are charging, it was the worst coverup, the shortest lived and most poorly organize i've seen. but they clearly didn't have enough information or they didn't wait to talk about it in the proper way. >> bret: we now know on september 14, this is three days after the attack. the administration knows that there was no protest. they know it internally. there is a report that they interviewed the security officers in the air base, and said there was never a protest. catherine herridge had early reporting on it. they know there is no protest. they have the e-mails now that there is at least one group claiming responsibility.

we have seen the reports that tie ansar al-sharia to al-qaeda directly. yet, jay carney says this on the 18th. play this. >> the initial information, that includes all information, we saw no evidence to back up claims by others that this was a preplanned or premeditated attack, that we saw evidence it was sparked by the reaction to this video. and that's what we know so far. based on the concrete evidence, not supposition but concrete evidence we have thus far. >> bret: there are five e-mails here and let alone e-mails we heard from ambassador stevens on the day he died even about the concern about al-qaeda in benghazi. concrete evidence? >> when you say there is no evidence you are telling a

falsehood, if you had just said the weight of the evidence or we think "x," it's the video, that is one thing. if you say there was no evidence it was premeditated attack and we have the evidence we see in e-mail claim, and the fact that the station chief is saying it's premeditated acta, all this evidence, that is simply not so. then the president saying on the daily show last week that we were releasing information, continually as it came out. that's also not true. we see the e-mails were not released by the state department. it came from other sources. they're piling one untruth on top of another. the fact that was incompetent coverup is not argument that of it not being a coverup. a lot of things in life is incompetent. it's not evidence it wasn't. the theory i have is they might have thought at the beginning it would be a terror attack and go out with it. but remember what happened. between the attack and the susan rice appearance three.

days of unrelenting media coverage of romney. the romney statement. the attacks on romney. the gaffe he made and all of that. the media were uninterested in the story. they might have made a calculation. media interested in romney stuff and not interested in the detail. the secretary of state said that we saw is, you know, let's not rush any judgment, because we're going to get the report of the committee. you know what her committee will report? in the middle of next month. that means after election day. all they want to do is string it out to election day and run with a story it's about an american nut who released a video and not about the administration for admitting that al-qaeda is not on the heels but active. >> bret: i want to call an audible here and talk about the political impact of all of this and how it affects the election. change the topic for the second panel. we'll be right back after

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>> bret: continuing our coverage of this benghazi e-mail situation today. and the breaking news. with the political impact of this. despite the fact we're back with the panel this did not come up significantly and governor romney didn't jump on it in the last debate this week, steve. how does it affect the presidential race? does it move the needle? >> i'm not sure it does affect the race. when governor romney doesn't talk about it, and the romney campaign isn't focused on it, it gives excuses to the news organizations that ought to be covering it. he's a huge story no matter what. >> bret: it will be no matter who wins the election. if president obama wins the election it will be a huge

story -- >> we'll get the reports and hearings in congress. you can bet on all of that. look, you have whatever anybody believes about the ultimate truth of this, you have a series now almost six weeks of directly contradictory statements. one after another after another. made by the administration. maybe just incompetence. but that is a lot of incompetence for that kind of a story. let me make one point. i made it before but it's important in light of what charles said about the focus on romney right after the attack. remember, in pries previous attk after previous attack, new york times square bomber and air bomber obama mrs. did the same thing, down -- the obama administration did the same thing. downplayed the attack no, link to al-qaeda. >> bret: fort hood shooter. >> but they did that later when they released the after the fact. i am talking in real-time the airline bomber case and the

new york times square case. they said of the airline bom bomber he was isolated extremist and said in the "new york times" square it was a oneoff attack. then they had to say it was directed by the pakistani tell beetaliban. and the other one was legion of ties to al-qaeda in arabian peninsula. >> first of all, in all of those cases you think they would have learned to say hey, we are investigating. we don't know. this is chaotic and confusion. place-holder until you get your facts straight. better than having to backtrack. it want to talk about the politician -- >> bret: the fluid reporting that secretary clinton talks about at the time you think concrete evidence is not what you -- >> that's what i'm saying. say we're investing and we don't know instead of tying yourself down to a story you have to later walk back from? or be criticized for. i want to say something about the politics of this, romney has one of the biggest

megaphones of anybody, any human being can have. he the republican nominee for president. he had a chance, you know, charles said too much focus put on him. he has a chance to say that the administration left the embassy unprotected, they bumbled the arab spring but he focused on an attack that white house sympathized with attackers. he had a choice and he made a choice. he had a choice in florida. he didn't bring this up. this would have been a huge -- every one of us was prepared to write a lot about libya before the debate in florida. he chose not to bring it up. >> mal practice. to blame it on the candidate with other ideas of the strategic reasons to say because he didn't ask for looking in to this, we're not going to do it. >> i'm talking about in the context of the story on the campaign. >> story of the scandal, the media ought to be on it. romney or not. not an excuse. >> bret: stick around to the online show when you have more to say. strong letter to follow. we have an online show after this show. much more on this. and the electoral college as

well. that is it for the panel. stay with us. to see how the candidates try to differentiate themselves at the debate this week.

>> bret: finally tonight, we asked you if mitt romney wins the presidency how will he govern? 30% of you said from the right. 67 percent said from the center. and 3% think from the left. thanks for participating. we had almost 13,000 votes tonight. thanks for the almost 12 million of you who watched fox news channel for the debate this week. a lot of people are commenting about how mitt romney seemed to agree with president obama a lot during that debate but they did try to be different. >> my first job as commander and chief, job, -- bob is to keep the american people safe. have you got to be clear to our allies and our enemies. >> this is an area of great concern to the entire world. >> there are some things that we are going to have to do here at home as well. >> i absolutely believe that america has a responsibility and the privilege of